Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Breaker guard Phill Jones (Photosport)

Joel Tiller, Sportal
A red hot third quarter and some inspired three-point shooting from guard Phil Jones was enough to see the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers overcome the Wollongong Hawks in the Australian Hummer NBL Championship.

Jones top scored for the home side with a game-breaking haul of 32 points including six-of-eight from three-point range.

Fellow guard Kirk Penney (22 points) and forward Rick Rickert (24) provided sterling support for Jones as the home side put in a more complete performance than its opposition.

American guard Kavossy Franklin was a tower of strength for Wollongong with 24 points.

The Hawks went toe-to-toe for two thirds of the match before the Breakers shifted up a notch in a rampant final 16 minutes to wipe-out a five-point half-time deficit.

Rickert continued his strong recent form with some sweet touches early on and rammed home a dunk to please the crowd in the fourth minute.

But the Hawks had the early ascendancy courtesy of some strong inside shooting from big men Cameron Tragardh and Ben Castle with Franklin’s sniping runs ever dangerous.

Jones was simply unstoppable in the first half shooting five-of-seven from outside the arc after notching his first on six minutes.

The first quarter ended 30-26 but the Hawks fought back strongly straight away in the second.

Penney again got his side back on track from outside with seven minutes remaining in the quarter and then promptly added a lay-up to see his side four points ahead.

A wayward pass and some handling errors gave the Hawks opportunities to put some distance on the scoreboard and they capitalised.

And the visitors had the last points of the opening half through Tragardh at the free-throw line to round out the first stanza in front 58-53.

But the Breakers suddenly came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders with forward Tony Ronaldson nailing three quick field goals and Penney jamming two more home after a quick turnover and long pass from Oscar Foreman.

The Breakers had burst out to 75-67 lead with seven minutes gone.

A sweet behind the back flick from lively forward Mika Vukona saw Jones take the score to 91-78 inside the last minute.

And the “postman” Jones kept on to delivering, almost bringing the house down with a long range bomb from well inside his half during the dying seconds of the third term.

The period closed with the home side ahead 94-82 and Jones sitting on 32 points.

With seven minutes remaining, Penny nailed another three and the lead was the biggest of the match at 15.

The Breakers showed no indication of letting up over the closing stages and further extended the winning margin to 21 as Wollongong lost its intensity and accuracy.

Harvey Norman NZ Breakers 121 (Phill Jones 32, Rick Rickert 24, Kirk Penney 21) Wollongong Hawks 100 (Kavossy Franklin 24, Cameron Tragardh 22, Angelo Reyes 13)
Box Score – Breakers v Hawks (html 52KB)